


A Bone To Pick

by Stilienski



Series: Sterek ficlets [12]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Hale is a wolf, Derek is a playful doggie, M/M, Supernatural Hunters, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 22:11:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7139555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stilienski/pseuds/Stilienski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow Stiles and Derek fall into the hunter lifestyle. Because of their own connections to the supernatural they get into the polite habit of asking questions first and then shooting people. </p><p>That came back to bite them in the butt when a witch manages to catch them offguard during the questioning and leaves Stiles with a very furry Derek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bone To Pick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lonaargh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonaargh/gifts).



> Based off of Lona's prompt: "No, put that bone down!"

In the past year, Stiles had only once stopped to think about how they got here. Then he realized it was really just a natural route for their lives to take, at least for him. He’s convinced that the rest of the pack who went to college is living the weird life. How can they just go out in the world and try to blend in and be normal when they know better than anyone how freaking horrifying life can actually get?

Don’t get him wrong, Stiles would love a “normal” life, peace and quiet and no daily near-death experiences, that would be phenomenal, honestly. But he also knew that he couldn’t just go off to college to study criminology when he knew that there were way worse things out there that someone really needed to keep in check. Sure, you could never have too many law enforcement people, but the number of people who actually deal with the supernatural crimes was way lower.

Also, (and this goes out to his dad) how does anyone expect him to even be able to “enjoy the full college experience” now? What was Stiles supposed to do for the full college experience? Go out to party knowing college parties with all the hormonal people are the perfect huntingspot for an incubus or a siren? “But college is an adventure!” uh-uh, sure it is, see aforementioned incubus and siren.

Oh but you meant the learning experience? Right. Well, as soon as there’s a major in “How to survive in a world full of hidden supernatural creatures” then you can sign him the fuck up, because that would be some useful learning experience right there!

That’s not to say that Stiles doesn’t admire Scott and Lydia and Isaac and… well basically everyone but him giving it a shot. Oh no, Stiles wished he could do that and he really hopes his friends will graduate and get a job and marry someone and get 2.5 kids and buy a house with a white picket fence and live the American dream… but that’s just not going to work for Stiles.

This though, the life he’s living now, this works for Stiles. And all it took to get him here was the simple things like his best friend turning into a werewolf and all the disastrous shit that followed plus watching Supernatural. This life was the only logical possibility for Stiles, and he’s totally fine with it. Well, he’s fine with it because he’s not alone in it, he’s got his trusty alpha werewolf by his side to help him track and fight whichever weird things there may be.

And if it was a logical step for Stiles to get here, then it was an even easier thing for Derek to fall into this life with him. Derek was basically already living it as soon as Scott got bitten. He’d always put himself right in the line of fire, fighting tooth and nail to keep others safe and he’d already given up on a normal life. He’d never intended to stay in Beacon Hills. Not with all the ruins there that can still pull on his heartstrings like nothing else.

There was no way Derek was ever going to be ready to settle down somewhere. It was simply too risky. He had tried to build a pack again, but in the few years he’d fought his hardest to keep it, he saw himself fail his pack over and over again. Erica and Boyd of course, but also all the people that got hurt yet by some miracle still survived. Those few years were more than enough for Derek to see that he was not capable of fighting like this for the rest of his life, because he knew better than anyone that it was an uphill battle.

Derek was just never meant to be an alpha, never meant to keep a pack together and protect it. After all the shit that happened, he just couldn’t take that responsibility upon himself. He’d already taken responsibility for his first pack, his family, and he’d take the responsibility for Erica and Boyd, but that was it. He couldn’t carry any more than that.

And Stiles understood that, after the Nogitsune he understood that better than anyone. So it wasn’t a surprise when Stiles was the one who gave Derek an out. They both knew that this life was coming for them sooner or later, Stiles just decided for the both of them that it would be sooner rather than later. Derek was more than fine with that decision when Stiles came to his still mostly empty loft and asked Derek to come with him.

That, right there, is the important bit. The part where Stiles asked Derek to come with him. Stiles was going to do this anyway so he’d already taken all the responsibility for himself. He knew that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, he knew that it was going to end bloody and that it would be bloody till the end, but he was still doing it. Derek going with him would only minimize the risks, but Derek knew Stiles would never ask him to take care of him, to be his babysitter. If anything, Stiles would ask him not to.

So Derek packed a bag, put his loft and car up for sale, bought a rusty old pick-up truck and they were on their way. That was about a year ago and since then, they’ve been hunting ghosts, rogue omegas and all sorts of other things.

But the lines are a bit more blurry with Stiles and Derek than they are with Sam and Dean. Sure, they hunted, but they rarely shot without asking questions first. Stiles and Derek were living proof of the fact that good people sometimes get tangled up in bad supernatural shit, that doesn’t suddenly make them monsters.

The asking questions thing wasn’t always a good decision though. Like on this hunt where they were questioning a witch and that gave her exactly the time she needed to screw them over big time. It had taken them three days to determine who exactly was the witch that was killing people left and right. Then it had taken them another two days to figure out a plan to trap her and kill her if necessary. And that was all screwed up because of the questioning.

“God fucking damn it,” Stiles breathed out as he ran his hand through his hair. “Great. The wicked witch is gone, and so is our element of surprise. What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

Derek responded in an even voice. “I say we start by searching a counter-spell.”

“Counter-spell for what? Derek, the point of a counter-spell is to counter a previously cast spell. There was no-“ Stiles gasped in surprise as suddenly there were two wolf ears on top of Derek’s head. Oh no, that’s not good. Nope, not good for anybody.

“Yeah, you should try that book on metamorphosis first.” Derek pointed out as his hands turned into paws.

“No, no, no! Stop acting so damn calm about this!”

“It’s fine.” Well, they couldn’t really do anything about it right now, so Stiles knew there was no point in Derek working himself up about it. But it just wasn’t fair that Stiles was now left with the task of figuring this out all by himself.

“I hate you! And just so you know, we’re still not going dogging together!” Yeah… that’s the thing with being on the road with one and the same person for a year, you really get to know them. Luckily for them they liked each other just as much as Sam and Dean. _(You can’t spell subtext without S-E-X)_

Before Derek could respond, he was nothing more than a big black wolf. Fucking wonderful.

 

Turns out the counter-spell was actually really easy to find, it was in the metamorphosis book just as Derek thought it would be. And that now left them with only a teeny tiny little issue. They needed the fresh blood of the witch who’d changed Derek.

“Okay, mutt, I hope you can still sniff her out.” Derek growled. Which wasn’t exactly new, he used to do that when he wasn’t a wolf too. “Go on then, go fetch the witch, boy! Go on! Be a good bo-” That was new though, the press of Derek’s very canine teeth around Stiles’ throat. It was just a threat, they didn’t press in at all, but it was definitely more than enough to make Stiles regret being such a horrible partner.

“Fine, fine! Seriously though, can you go find her evil lair? I’ll get the rest of the ingredients for the spell. Meet me back here at like 9pm…” Oh wait, wolves don’t have watches… “Or when the sun has cast its last shadow upon the earth and the crescent moon is risen above the Eastern Ridge.”

Derek just huffed and trotted off, his nose practically glued to the ground.

 

So being trapped in this full wolf form sucked for multiple reasons. Like not being able to talk. Not like he usually enjoyed talking, but having the option was nice, definitely to make Stiles shut up. It also sucked because his instincts were going through the roof. This wasn’t his territory, he didn’t need to mark it, yet he still barely kept from peeing in the motel room. Which is something he would definitely never tell Stiles.

The lack of thumbs was also excruciating. He couldn’t open doors, he couldn’t open food things and sure, Stiles was there to do that stuff for him but Derek didn’t like to depend on people that much. It was awful.

But it also did come with its perks. Like how his senses were even more heightened now. Apart from his sight, which was all in black and white. But his sense of smell and his hearing definitely made up for that. With this nose it wasn’t even a challenge to find her hiding place. Sure it was guarded by a bunch of spells, but he could still hear that she was inside, he didn’t need to go closer to confirm that.

He still had plenty of time before Stiles would expect him to be back at the motel, so he ran through the woods like a mad man to blow off some steam. Or well… like a rabid dog he supposes? He tested out his strength by tugging on smaller low hanging branches till they snapped off, then threw them as far as he could before he ran after them. Seriously, he was testing his strength.

In the end, Derek got so caught up in all of that that he was back too late at the motel, panting and tongue lolling out of his mouth and he didn’t even care. Stiles gave him a quick pat on his head while he continued loading the boot of the truck.

“You found her, right? Please tell me you found her.” Derek just moved his head up and down in a weird very unnatural feeling nod.

“Good. I’ve found everything else.” Stiles slammed the trunk closed and then went around to open the passenger door. “Hop in, boy.” Derek barely even heard the boy at the end of the sentence. He was just excited to go hunt the witch down.

 

“Okay, so we’ll need to capture the witch first and take her with us to the cemetery. We have to kill her and make her blood dribble all over the bones of one of her victims. Yeah, I know, the glamorous life of a hunter.” Then they came at a cross road. “Shit… well, bark once for right, twice for left and keep your mouth shut if we need to go straight on.” Well, that would do the trick, Derek barked as ordered. “Good boy. Anyway, I’ve gotten some witch-proof chain. I put a spell on them and there’s no way she’s getting out of the chains this time, I swear. But I still vote for rendering her unconscious before we put her in the car with us.”

Good plan. Only question Derek had was why the fuck Stiles didn’t use any witch-proof chains the first time around.

Now, the problem with hunting down the witch was that Derek in wolf form saw it all as a little game apparently. Well, “problem” was probably the wrong word, considering that Derek’s instincts were the only reason as to why they were able to capture her that quick. It’s just that Derek already got a little bit of biting and ripping and gnawing in before they could get her to the cemetery.

Right after Stiles had done all the necessary spells to get past the guarding the witch had put up, and before Stiles could even ask what Derek was doing the wolf had crawled on top of her lair. When she came out the door expecting to fight Stiles, she was met with a wolf jumping on top of her and slamming her headfirst onto a rock.

So what if Derek did a bit of nibbling before Stiles got his attention long enough to make him stop before he killed the witch.

“Dude! You can eat as much as you want when we’ve actually done the counter-spell okay! Although I guess you wouldn’t want to anymore then… seriously dude, you’re eating a _witch_ , god knows what she’s been rolling around in.” Derek didn’t look all that bothered though, he seemed to think Stiles wanted to play with him when Stiles started dragging Derek’s “prey” towards the car, so Derek just tugged in the opposite direction.

“Derek! For fuck’s sake! You’re way stronger than me, so if you could actually help instead of fighting me that would be grand!” When it didn’t look as if Derek was going to give up the fight, Stiles circled around the limp body of the witch to make them switch places so Derek was actually going to the car. Hell yes, he was totally the smart one.

With some struggling – the struggling mostly being between Stiles and Derek so the wolf wouldn’t completely kill the witch before they could use her for the spell – they finally got to the graveyard. Luckily for Stiles playful Derek apparently liked to dig, so once Stiles had gotten a decent hole started, he just left the rest of the digging for the dog while he got all the other ingredients ready, including the witch.

And damn, Derek was freaking quick with digging up that grave. Stiles could only see his furry butt and tail peeking out of the hole by the time he managed to get the witch next to the grave of one of her victims.

The crack of a half-rotten wooden coffin being torn to pieces by a wolf was way too fucking loud in the dead of night. But that sound didn’t scare him half as much as the playful grin Derek gave him when he poked his head out of the grave.

“Oh no… no, no, no! Derek, we have a job to do!” but it was too late, the wolf was already running away with a bone lodged firmly between his jaws.

“Get back here! Derek I swear to fucking God if you don’t get back here right this instant I will not hesitate to shoot your furry little butt full of wolvesbane and mix mountain ash into your kibble tomorrow.” Derek seemed to think about all of those threats for a bit and then stepped closer to Stiles again, ever so slowly. “Yes, that’s a good boy, now just give me the bone so we can turn you back into normal Derek and then I can kick your ass, because I’m not actually all that big on animal cruelty.” Stiles reached for the bone but Derek gave a little yip, pulled back and started sprinting around Stiles in circles. “No, put that bone down right now! DEREK!”

In the end it took a well-timed tackle (okay it took several tries before the well-timed tackle too) to pin Derek down, Stiles made sure the wolf was calm enough before he let him up again.

“No more games, I’m serious.” Didn’t the stupid mutt get that Stiles was doing all of this for his furry butt? Or…. For the lack of fur on his butt?

 

Stiles was exhausted by the time he’d managed to practically drain the witch’s body of blood and pour it onto the bones of her victim. He had to salt and burn the bones and then throw some more ingredients on the fire. He decided to wait it out right outside the walls of the graveyard, where they parked the car just on the end of a dirt road in the forest. The fire wasn’t even close to being burned out yet when Derek started changing back. Yes, Stiles knew what that meant. No, he was not getting a blanket for that asshole.

“You couldn’t even have brought me some cloth-“

“No!” Stiles snapped, trying to hide the relief he felt upon finally hearing Derek’s voice again. Even though said voice sounded raspy and tired.

“So, what? Are you changing your mind?” no, no, Derek was Derek again, he shouldn’t be looking that playful. Nope, Stiles didn’t trust that look at all. Not one bit. “You know technically we need more people for dogging,” see! He was totally right not to trust it! “but we could just take baby steps in exploring your exhibitionism kink. We can start in public places where there’s practically no chance of anyone seei-”

“Oh my- for the love of god, please stop talking! It’s not too late to buy you a muzzle.” But Stiles was already failing in keeping the smile off his face. He got his Derek back, how could he not smile?

“You know there are other ways to shut me up,” Derek proposed as he walked over – yes, still naked as the day he was born -  and planted himself on Stiles’ lap. “So make me.”

Okay, so maybe playful Derek wasn’t always that bad…

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://bilienski.tumblr.com/) !


End file.
